I PS 3184 
MS 
Copy 1 






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^Ai^ IN MUSICAL flow" 



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.. BY 

AUGUSTA WHITLOCK 






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CHICAGO 

1690-91 



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FOSTER ROE & CRONE 



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.. BY .. 
AUGUSTA WHITLOCK 



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COPYRIGHT 1 890 

BY 

AUGUSTA WHITLOCK 



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WtVitation 

To you, my friends, with the Season's greet- 
ings, I dedicate my "Idyl of the Brook," and 
hope that it will find a place in your hearts. 

I have not touched the /fes^,hut I have done 

?//>' best 

A. W. 




wandered to-day to the hill below, 

And sat by a silvery stream 
As it gurgled and babbled in musical flow, 
All flecked with the sunlight's golden glow, 
3 And the shadows that danced between ; 

It sang to me part of a symphony sweet 

I had heard in the long ago ; 
When to me as a child, the rarest treat 
5 Was to dangle at will my naked feet 

In the streamlet's limpid flow. 



Then to spatter and toss the water bright, 

And laugh at the foaming spray 
As it fell in a shower of silver white, 
All flashing with rainbow colored light 

Just caught from the King of Day. 

The autumn winds sighed thro' the leafless wood; 

Not a sad and dismal strain, 
But in peaceful, quiet, tender mood. 
And these were the words — 'The Lord is good,' 

While the Brooklet caught the refrain. 



As it wandered on — in its fair, young breast 

Hope whispered — ^ vSoon thou shalt be 
Sleeping so sweet with thy head at rest 
On the bosom of him who loves thee best — 
Thy bonny lover — the Sea.' 

" Who told thee of Love, little Brooklet, so sweet ? " 

" Oh, once from the far off blue 
"A messenger came — 'twas the Zephyr so fleet 
'^ W^ith words low and tender, he knelt at my feet, 

"And this was tlie messa2:e so true: 



5 



"'I am waiting my Love by the beautiful gate, 

" ' Where the river flows over the lea, 
" ' If you are my true-love, my heart's dearest mate 
" ' Oh come when you will, you cannot be too late, 
" ' From your faithful lover — the Sea.' " 

" I'hen I sent him a token, a lock of my hair, 

" 'Twas a part of myself, do you see? 
" The messenger bore it to him with great care 
" And now I am sure he is waiting me there 
" In that land far awav, o'er the lea. 



*' And now I am going my lover to find, — 

"The great, wide, sounding Sea; 
" Will they deem me immodest ? the world is unkind 
" Because that my lover / go to find, 

" For he cannot come to wr." 

Her beautiful breast and shining hair 

With jewels were all agleam, 
So I said, " Little Brook, have you one to spare? 
" I should like a gem ;" with a smile as rare 

As the parting sun's last beam — 



" O take them," she cried, "for my lover bold 

"Is rich ill the wealth of the sea, 
" He will deck me with jewels more precious than gold, 
" More ])eautiful far than you've ever been told, 

" Of every variety. 

"The Sea-nymphs are vv^eaving a dress for me 

" Of that deep, sea-tinted blue, 
" Embroidered in gems from the mines of the Sea — 
" The royal gift of my lover to me — 

"And mosses of every hue." 



Thus she chatted and sang, of her lover fair, 

And went murmuring on her way ; 
And I watched her, so happy and free from care,- 
With the jewels agleam on her bosom bare; — 

And I thought as I turned away, 

Ah ! Youth is hopeful and Love is blind. 

And 1 trust that thy lover, the Sea, 
Prove as loyal and wortliy, as lo\Ing and kind 
As the faithful lover thou'rt going to find, 
In thy trusting innocency. 



NEARLY REAdY 

FOR 

THE PRESS 



"CKime5 of iLe Bells" 

AND OTHER POEMS 
BY AUGUSTA WHITLOCK 



liSS,^ °^ CONGRESS 




018 603 123 4* 



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